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Diplopia hopes to restore 3D vision in adults through gaming

Diplopia, a brick-breaking game designed with the Oculus Rift in mind, aims to help restore 3D vision in adults. With 40 days left on the fundraising clock, the concept has already raised enough to be funded nearly five times over -- the total is $9,931 (£6,000) at the time of writing -- and has sparked much curiosity.

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Wired.co.uk got in touch with the project's curator, freelance programmer James Blaha, to find out more.

Blaha himself has strabismus, also know as cross-eye. "My brain never learned to integrate the data from both of my eyes, and totally suppresses the information coming from my left eye," says Blaha. "My whole life my eye doctors told me that past the age of 12 I would have no hope of improvement."

For the last three or four years Blaha has been looking at ways videogaming might be able to help treat amblyopia or strabismus. "My first thought was to get polarised filters, fit them to glasses at two angles, get two projectors, and make my own 3D projector system. This would cost in the thousands of dollars to even try it out, so I never did it."

Instead, he kept an eye on research papers dealing with the conditions. Several pieces of research in the last few years came to the conclusion that the adult brain was more plastic than previously thought and that it was theoretically possible to "unlearn" that data suppression.

This, combined with the low cost of purchasing an Oculus Rift dev kit meant the project was back on the table. "When I got my Rift I immediately jumped into coding enough of the game to prove to myself that I could do this. Once I was certain that I could get it to work I decided to create my crowdfunding campaign and go public with my idea."

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Originally, Blaha turned to Kickstarter, but the medical claims involved in the project go against Kickstarter's project guidelines. Indiegogo proved more accommodating, so Diplopia launched there instead. The medical aspect of Diplopia is a significant one and Blaha is not a doctor so I ask whether he has been collaborating with any ophthalmologists or other specialists in the field. "I have been in contact with opticians, optometrists and opthalmologists. I am hoping to speak with as many people in the field as possible. I have talked extensively with an optician from Canada who contributed to the optics on the Oculus Rift, who has been extremely supportive."

There is a disclaimer as part of the Indiegogo campaign page stating, "Diplopia has not yet been proven to help those with amblyopia. Consult your eye doctor before playing

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Diplopia." But if Blaha's game does prove effective it would be of value to the medical community. With that in mind, we turn to the possibility of scientific testing and whether Blaha feels a responsibility to evaluate his creation under clinical guidance.

I am looking for a research institution to partner with, but I am also looking into the cost of funding the research myselfJames Blaha"There is nothing I would like more than to run scientific tests with professionals," he says. "I am looking for a research institution to partner with, but I am also looking into the cost of funding the research myself and adding a stretch goal for it. The last thing I want to do is make someone's vision worse. I will do everything in my power to prevent that from happening by being as informed as I can and talking to as many specialists as possible. If there is any way I can do testing I will."

In the meantime, Blaha has been experimenting on himself with

Diplopia mode. He describes the game's effect on his own vision and the first time he ever saw and image in three dimensions. "Shortly before starting the campaign I wrote a piece of code to do a very basic test of suppression. It shows a cube right in front of you that is spinning. When it first loads it shows the cube as half grey to both eyes. At this point I am only seeing it with my good eye. By using the arrow keys I can make the cube brighter in one eye and darker in the other, changing the contrast ratio between them. It started out as 0.5, equal contrast. I started to reduce this contrast ratio so the cube became brighter and brighter in my good eye.

For the first time in my life I was looking at an object where both eyes were contributing to the imageJames Blaha

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Mode' on and off since then, and now the cube snaps into 3D at around 0.12. When I perceive it in 3D at 0.5 I think I would see real life in 3D as well. This is a simple test, and probably won't be what is shipped with the game, but as a proof of concept I think it is really cool."

Amblyopia treatment isn't the only purpose of the game. It's also intended to be played by those with normal vision as well as those with other eye conditions. "My strategy for dealing with this is to give the user options," says Blaha. "I will make Diplopia be a full, fun, and engaging game for people with normal vision on a regular computer.

I will also have modes and options for people with different eye conditions. This will probably mean toning down (or even totally removing) the effects for those using it to help their vision. This way anyone can purchase the game to have fun while at the same time supporting others with vision problems."